Wis. dairy farmers grateful for cooling temps

MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin dairy farmers are glad to see temperatures returning to manageable levels.

Dairy cows generally prefer cool temperatures. When the mercury hits the 90s, as it did this week, cows tend not to produce as much milk.

Bill Averbeck milks about 240 cows in Fond du Lac. He says a few days of sweltering heat led to a 7 percent dip in milk output.

Rick Roden is an Ozaukee County dairy farmer with about 400 cows. He says intense heat like that can leave cows susceptible to bacterial infections on their udders.

The heat has starting moving eastward, but not without causing dairy casualties first.

Russ Raeder is with the U.S. Agriculture Department. He tells Wisconsin Public Radio (http://bit.ly/pgKrES ) he got some reports of heat-related livestock deaths.